The last escort to the new beginning
by Yalia
Summary: When Harry 'died' Dumbledore was there to meet him. But was anyone there for Sirius?


**Summary**: When Harry 'died' Dumbledore was there to meet him. But was anyone there for Sirius?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own "Harry Potter" or any of it's characters.

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The last escort to the new beginning

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Sirius felt like he was flying. The gravity was pulling him down and he couldn't stop. Everywhere he looked was nothingness. The empty space did not frighten him, it felt soothing. But then again wasn't he supposed to be anything but soothed? He was in the middle of the battle after all. As abruptly as his descent started it stopped.

Laying on the solid surface he looked around. His eyes adjusted to the bright surroundings and were pinned above him. Nothing. There was not a thing around him. Sirius would be panicking by now if it wasn't for this breeze. It was all around him. It felt real, unlike the entirety of the place surrounding him. He felt that chilling yet comfortable caress all over his body. Wait... all over... he looked down and almost blushed. He probably would have if there was anyone else around. Since there wasn't, there really was no point in covering himself, and there were no clothes close by, just... this empty space.

"Didn't take you long to come after me.", a sad whisper reached his ears.

He turned so fast he nearly made a full circle and missed a figure that spoke to him.

"You're dead!" he gasped.

"Hate to break it to you, Siri, but so are you."

Sirius was offered a light cloak which he hastily draped around himself.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are." there was a hint of annoyance in so far compassionate voice.

"No, I'm not!"

"Graceful in death my ass... You _are_ dead, you impertinent Gryffindor dung!"

"Am not! _You_ are!" Sirius opened his mouth to say something more but instead something snapped in his mind "_You_ are dead." he said, but this time it was said much softer. He gave a figure in front of him a pitying glance.

The slim, black haired man in front of him gaped. His eye started twitching. Sirius, his usual self, was oblivious.

"I missed you so much." his eyes watered and for once he had nothing to be ashamed of.

This caused a wistful smile to appear on the face of the shorter man.

"I missed you too, Siri, for so much longer then you may think."

Sirius' face darkened instantly. His whole stature turned threatening in the blink of an eye. The change was so abrupt that the man in front of him stiffened at the spot.

"Then you shouldn't have gotten yourself killed you Slytherin nitwit!"

"It was not really my intention, you know." skeptical voice answered him.

"Well, if you listened to me you'd still be around!"

"I am standing right in front of you, how's that for _around_?" the blue eyes frowned in amusement.

"And, how did you do that? I know you are dead! That bastard had you killed!"

The uncomfortable figure in front of him shifted nervously.

"Actually he didn't..."

"I knew it! You were pulling my leg! Has he sent you then? You've been hiding all these years like some coward that you probably are! I thought you were dead, Regulus!" Sirius was furiously rambling.

And there it was, Regulus thought bemusedly. Right where it's been just moments after he saw his haggard looking brother. That twitch in his right eye that kept coming back whenever said brother was in the vicinity.

"What I meant was that he didn't kill me, not intentionally, anyway... but I _am_ dead, you annoying piece of lard! And so are you! You died, Siri..."

Sirius grimaced at him , trying to figure out if he was lying or not. He wouldn't put it past Regulus. But then a thought occurred to him and his face beamed with a triumphant grin.

"I am not dead." he stated confidently.

Regulus was exponentially loosing his patience. He so regretted coming here to meet his idiot of a brother. James would have surely handled it better, after all he _did_ put up with him for ten years. Regulus was astonished at a new found respect he now harbored for Potter.

Breathing in a huge amount of air he held it for a few seconds and exhaled audibly. He would give his dimwitted brother one chance to explain and then he's out of here. Sirius can find his way beyond on his own and if his cerebrally-challenged brother somehow managed to resurrect himself instead at least he wouldn't be his problem anymore.

"And why is it that you can't be dead?" he asked in a voice used when explaining things to toddlers.

"Because Harry still needs me!" Sirius countered victoriously.

Regulus' eyebrows shot up at that. This was unexpected. Finally he burst out laughing.

Sirius looked insulted. Well, it's not like he hasn't been, but this was too much for him.

"And what's so funny? It's not like you ever cared about anyone other then yourself!" he said crossing his hands defiantly.

After a while Regulus managed to control his breathing. This was so stupid that he couldn't even take pity anymore, it was hilarious. He sobered so he could continue this argument.

"So, if someone is needed he can't die?"

"Well, who's gonna help Harry?"

"Dumbledore."

"He can't live with Dumbledore!"

"He couldn't live with you either."

"Stop using past tense! He _can't_!"

"Exactly my point." Regulus smirked.

Sirius' determination finally started to crumble. Regulus thought it would somehow be more satisfactory, but now he almost wanted Sirius to think he was alive again.

Sirius sat on a solid white surface, exactly where he landed before, looking pensive.

"Is there a chair around here?" Regulus wondered to himself. This place was supposed to be Sirius' creation, but there was nothing there...

"There's just this... space, nothing else as far as I've seen" Sirius replied staring at one spot, no different then any other around.

"Figures..."

Regulus sat beside him. He looked at that magical spot Sirius was staring at.

"Harry will be fine. We all helped as much as we could, it's up to him now. You must believe in him."

"How exactly did _you_ help?" Sirius snorted.

"I'd like to think I have. Thanks to you all he needs to do now is be a bit friendly with Kreacher and he would get his answers."

Sirius diverted his eyes from the spot and stared at his brother.

"Has death sent you of your rocker!"

"Trust me Siri, Harry will be fine without you. Devastated, yes, but he will get over it."

"It won't be easy for him."

"It never has been, you self-absorbed pukebreath."

Sirius actually laughed at this one. Regulus tried to remain straight faced but failed miserably. They both needed this for a long time. Ever since Sirius was sorted into Gryfffindor they haven't talked to each other casually. They argued and yelled or simply ignored each other. To Sirius' credit he tried to convince his brother that joining Voldemort was a mistake, but Regulus was just as stubborn as he was.

"So, how did you die?" Sirius asked in a low voice.

"I went against Him."

"You said he didn't kill you?"

"He didn't know I betrayed him. I took away what mattered to him the most and he didn't even notice. Pretty pathetic if you ask me."

"And yet you died."

"There was no other way for it to end. If my life was the price of his future downfall so be it." he shrugged despondently.

They sat in silence for I while.

"I'm proud of you, Reg." Sirius said. He was surprised how easy it was for him to say that.

Regulus couldn't help his heart swelling at praise. A huge weight fell off his shoulders. All his life he's been trying to please his family and it turns out in order to feel good he had to do the opposite. Sirius was his idol when he was a kid and this meant a lot.

Seeing the look on his face, Sirius knew that too. But he'd be damned if he let Regulus turn all mushy on him!

"So, what do we do from here?" Sirius asked.

"We move on."

"We walk?"

"I was hoping you'd dust your brain and use it a bit."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? How am I supposed to know what to do, I've never been dead before!"

"Never mind... Just imagine some way for us to get out of here and it should appear."

"Oh..." Sirius blushed.

"Yup, that's all it takes. We could have had this conversation at the sunlit quidditch pitch if only you'd bothered to imagine it."

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on two broomsticks. When he opened them he came face to face with a scowling Regulus. He mounted his firebolt and flew off, Regulus still holding disgustedly a dusty cleansweep training broom.

Opting for a walk over that piece of rotten wood he wondered if Sirius' respect was worth everything he's been through. The words echoed through his mind 'I'm proud of you...' and a bright smile fought it's way on his face. It was, and he would do it all over again just for the sake of those five words.

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**Author's note**: It doesn't seem right to me that Sirius never found out about Regulus' sacrifice. So I figured this would be the only way to right that without messing any further with a plot.

Hope you liked it!


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